Our Staff

Dave SwaimLead Pastor

Raised just a few miles from Highrock, Dave is a local. Though he lived nine years in Virginia, and two overseas, when he returned to Boston for graduate school, he was home to stay. Dave and his wife Michelle started dating in high school, and they now have seven children adopted from all over the world. Dave served several wonderful churches before coming to Highrock in 2000, but hopes to stay here forever.

Eugene KimExecutive Pastor

Pastor Eugene has served on staff at Highrock since the fall of 2002. He grew up in Queens, NY and also lived in Seoul, Korea in High School. A graduate of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Eugene wears many hats at Highrock including preaching, leading worship, and managing the systems and staff of the church. He describes himself as Dave’s opposite, which has made the two of them a great team over the years. He spends his time outside of church with his wife Alice, and making his three kids, Owen, Evan and Emelie laugh.

Aaron EnglerAssistant Pastor and Highrock North Shore Lead Pastor

Born and raised in east central, Minnesota, Aaron was a finance major at the University of Minnesota and then a banker, prior to moving east to study for ministry at Gordon-Conwell, which he graduated from in 2008. On staff since 2006, Aaron has served as the Young Adult Pastor, but will be setting out to plant a new church in the North Shore area in the Summer of 2012! He's devoted to his wife Ariel, and passionate about God's Word, seeing sold out followers of Jesus, and, of course, University of MN College Hockey!

Ryan YiAssistant Pastor

A native son of Ohio, Ryan serves Highrock as the college pastor and leader of the welcoming and integration ministry known as the Open Door Ministry. He loves to build welcoming and inclusive communities and to make people laugh - even at his own expense. Ryan is a huge Ohio State Buckeyes Football fan and serves as a Reserve United States Air Force Chaplain. He counts as the reasons he stays in Boston: Highrock, Highrock, Indian Buffets. This May, Pastor Ryan will join Pastor Stephen to plant Highrock Quincy in Quincy, MA!

Stephen SharkeyWorship Pastor and Highrock Quincy Lead Pastor

Stephen is a native of the North Side of Chicago. He also has a soft spot for the blue collar steel country of Northeast Ohio where he lived for several years. He received his Masters of Divinity from North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago in 2007 and was ordained in the Covenant Church in 2009. Coming to Quincy was a homecoming for his wife Kathleen who grew up here on the South Shore. Stephen has worked with young church plants in Chicago and New Jersey before moving to Boston to partner with Highrock. His escape is ESPN, his obsession is U2, his guilty pleasure is anything Disney, and his greatest hope is to see Greater Boston transformed by the Gospel of Jesus. Stephen and Kathleen live in Quincy with their children Tyler and David.

Michelle SanchezPastor of Christian Formation

Michelle completed her M.Div and Th.M. from Gordon-Conwell. She leads Highrock's ministries of Christian formation including Greenhouse (adult education) and Highrock Spiritual Guides (spiritual direction). Prior to seminary, she worked as an investment banker at Goldman, Sachs, and Co., and also helped to launch a ministry with Campus Crusade for Christ in New York. She is a published poet and author in the area of Christian spirituality. Her other interests include faith-based entrepreneurship, women in leadership, and theology and the arts. She and her husband Mickey live in Medford with their son Seth.

Chris GredeniusCommunity and Outreach Pastor

Chris currently lives on the seacoast of New Hampshire with his wife of 16 years, Sara, and their three daughters, Morgan, Trinity, and Ryder. The Gredeniuses are a family who love to surf, bike, and ski together. Chris’ ideal morning is changing from pajamas into a wetsuit for a sunrise surf session, and then cleaning up to head off to work.

Born and raised in the Midwest, Chris went to North Park University and Seminary in Chicago. Over the past 17 years he has served in camping ministry and three other churches before joining the Highrock team. Chris is excited to be the Pastor to Community and Outreach and College.

John MuryYoung Adult Pastor

Made in Korea but born in the USA, John grew up in north-central New Jersey. Ever the skeptic, he didn’t become a believer until his first semester at Carnegie-Mellon in Pittsburgh where he connected with Intervarsity. Even after giving his life to Christ, his theological and scientific questions only deepened.This quest for answers led him to pursue undergraduate and graduate studies at Wheaton College in Illinois. He met his wife, Aimee, while attending Willow Creek Community Church.Their experience at Willow finally led John to believe not only in Jesus but in His church as well.After serving for several years as a ministry leader in Willow’s young adult ministry, John and Aimee moved to Massachusetts in 1998 to be part of a church start-up called Beacon Community Church. John served as a pastor at Beacon since 1999 and is very excited about his new role at Highrock. His family loves Highrock, too, including Aimee and their children Xander (10), Jazzie (9), and Eliza (7).

Brian DietzYouth & Family Pastor

Brian grew up in Pittsburgh, PA. He came out to the Boston area in 1999 for seminary at Gordon-Conwell. After working at Grace Chapel in Lexington, MA for seven years as the Middle School Pastor, he joined the Highrock team in September 2009. Brian and his wife Heather have been serving together in ministry ever since 2002 and have a huge love for teens and families! They have three kids, Abby, Lydia and Caleb. Aside from his family, Brian's other loves include playing ultimate frisbee, basketball, and pretty much any kind of game such as Settlers or Pictionary. He is also a huge fan of vanilla Frappes and the Cheesecake Factory!

Soo Jin HanDirector of Children's Programming

Soo Jin is the Director of Children's Programming at Highrock. Born and raised in New York City, Boston has become her home after attending Wellesley College and receiving her M.Ed from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Highrock has been Soo Jin's church ever since she visited her first Sunday in Boston, way back during her first-year. She loves pretty much everything about kids- their energy, spunk, and child-like faith! In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, cooking, organizing, and spending time with Highrockers- both young and old(er).

Danny CastiglioneMissions Director/Campus Minister to Intl. Students

Danny came to Boston to work with the 30,000+ international students and scholars in the city and to finish his Masters in theology. Growing up in Florida and Georgia and attending college at Auburn, has made Danny a huge college football fan (but since coming to Boston has learned to love Fenway Park). As well as being Highrock's Missions Director, he serves as a full time campus minister to international students. Danny and his wife Erika have three children and spent six years overseas before coming to Boston.

Lyh Rhen LamCreative Arts Director

Lyh grew up on the South Shore and graduated from Dartmouth College with a degree in Studio Art. Though his first love is assembling art installations into the wee hours of the morning, you can also find him in the kitchen at Highrock leading the Soulfood Ministry and teaching art at Lexington Christian Academy. Over the years, Lyh has worked his way through various jobs in the arts and the hospitality industry. He has worked for a flower company, a cafe, a design firm and more. Lyh is especially interested in helping Highrockers to experience God through various forms of the creative arts.

Myca WehrliChurch Administrator

While experiencing a life of adventure, Myca has lived near Boston, Washington DC and San Francisco in the past 8 years with her husband Andrew. She was raised in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and even though her home is now in Boston, she still misses the purple mountain's majesty. Myca studied Horticulture at Colorado State University and has a continuing passion for flowers and the beauty of creation around her. When away from Highrock you can find her playing with flowers, spending a day on a windy beach with Andrew or enjoying an evening with friends.

Austin Anderson

Pastoral Intern

Austin currently serves as an intern at Highrock, mainly working with Young Adults. His passion is helping others grow in their faith and come into deeper relationship with God. He grew up in Minnesota which he left in college to follow the call of God. Since then he hasn’t looked back, spending time doing missions work in Asia, getting his B.A. in California, and most recently moving to Boston to pursue an MDiv at Gordon-Conwell. In his spare time, Austin enjoys hanging out with friends, grabbing a coffee and getting to know someone, cooking for others, and finding the best food in Boston.